DeNato was all that last night, giving up five hits and striking out four in seven innings as he handcuffed the Buckeyes 6-4 before 1,060 fans in Bill Davis Stadium.

"He's a really good college pitcher," Ohio State coach Greg Beals said. "He has enough velocity on his fastball where he can come inside with it. And then he has a breaking ball. He has a shutdown move to first base."

A Buckeyes lineup that included four sophomores and one true freshman got an eyeful.

DeNato (5-1) walked four and hit a batter, but he gave up only a single to left-center to Ryan Leffel in the first five innings.

Jacob Bosiokovic walked leading off the second, and Tim Wetzel drew a one-out walk in the third, but both innings went poof after double-play grounders.

Ohio State (16-8, 2-2) scored a run in the sixth. Troy Kuhn reached on an infield single and went to second on an overthrow to first by shortstop Nick Ramos. Kuhn scored with two out on a single to left by Josh Dezse.

"A crafty lefty," Leffel said of DeNato, who shut out Louisville in last year's College World Series. "He likes to work away to all our righties. He's going to give you a pitch that you are not looking for throughout the at-bat. You have to use the right side of the field a lot against him."